UO Football: UO vs. Arizona State

UO Football: UO vs. Arizona State

Ducks Hold of ASU in 3OT Thriller

EUGENE, Oregon – For seemingly the first time all season, the Oregon Ducks got the last laugh. In a game where the stat sheets showed every way the Ducks should have lost the game, Oregon ran off of the field with a 61-55 triple-overtime victory over the Arizona State Sun Devils, their statement victory of the year thus far.

Arizona State had 37 first downs; Oregon had 20. Arizona State had 741 total yards; Oregon had 501. Arizona State possessed the ball for 35 minutes and 51 seconds; Oregon had it for 23:57.

And the Ducks will leave Tempe with an impressive win.

An interception from Arrion Springs on 1st and goal from the six in the third overtime is what sealed the game, but it was the miraculous combination of plays that allowed the Ducks to even get to that spot. Just a minute prior, Oregon left the door open for the Sun Devils by failing to convert the two-point conversion after the most controversial call of the game fell in Oregon’s hands.

Tied with ASU heading into the third overtime, Vernon Adams found Bralon Addison in the back of the end zone for what seemed to be a 15-yard touchdown pass. The play was reviewed, and replays appeared to show Addison’s foot coming down out of bounds; the play stood as a touchdown.

The touchdown pass was Adams’ fourth of the game; he went 23-for-40 with 315 yards. His biggest touchdown pass, however, came just prior to the overtime festivities starting.

After Tyree Robinson intercepted a Mike Bercovici pass with five minutes to play, Adams drove the Ducks down to the 8-yard line, where they sat facing a 4th and goal with 31 seconds on the clock and the game on the line, trailing 41-34. After evading a number of would-be-sacks, Adams scrambled to his right and heaved the ball into the end zone, where receiver Dwayne Stanford skied to catch it, coming down in bounds with the game-tying score.

Stanford went on to catch a touchdown on the first play in overtime as well, giving him two touchdowns on 35 yards receiving and four catches in the contest.

The Ducks jumped out to a 10-0 lead early in the game, but could not hold it down for long, allowing the Sun Devils to crawl back to a 17-14 deficit at halftime. ASU opened up a 31-20 lead with four minutes left in the third quarter, but Charles Nelson quickly regained momentum for the Ducks with a 100-yard kick return for a touchdown to cut the lead to four.

After forcing an ASU punt, Kani Benoit took his fourth carry of the game 62-yards for a touchdown that put the Ducks up 34-31 late in the fourth quarter.

A quick field goal from Arizona State tied it, and Bercovici found Kody Kohl for the go-ahead touchdown with 7:49 left in the game.

Oregon had what seemed to be one last chance at a game-tying touchdown drive, and after Adams scrambled out of several tackles on third and long, he heaved it down field to a wide-open Darren Carrington, but Carrington dropped it. The Ducks were forced to punt, but Robinson came up with the interception on the next drive.

The craziness that was three overtime periods followed, and the Ducks walked away with a much-needed victory that boosted the confidence of a team that has been hurting over the past few months. Outlandish predictions that this Oregon team can still make the Rose Bowl by winning out in the Pac-12 are still far out there, but this win gets them one step closer. This team may not be what the preseason polls projected, but one thing is for sure; this team has heart.